The Fourth Apprentice/Chapter 18
Chapter description :Dovepaw excitedly tells her mentor, Lionblaze, what she can sense at the blockage of the stream. She sees the brown animals stacking trees in the stream, causing for the water to be held behind them. She cannot precisely determine how many animals there are, and Lionblaze reassures her that it's alright that she can't. Her mentor leaves to relieve Petalfur of her watch duty, leaving Dovepaw to settle down for sleep. She tries, but the distant sounds of the brown animals keep her awake. Tigerheart complains of her wriggling, and she apologizes. :As dawn rises, Dovepaw follows the other cats out of the hollow tree. Petalfur comments on the chilliness of the air before Lionblaze gathers the cats to set out for the blockage. Toadfoot questions why he knows exactly where the brown animals are, and Lionblaze says that the dream from StarClan had shown the exact location, leaving Dovepaw annoyed by the secrecy. :As the cats progress, Tigerheart begins to boast about what they will do to the brown animals upon finding them. Sedgewhisker attempts to spook the ShadowClan warrior, but he remains un-phased. The two begin to have a playful fight before being scolded by Lionblaze to stop. The patrol carry forward, making their way up to the bank to see an area of patchy woodland. They see a blockade of logs in the river, almost as large as a Twoleg nest. The cats begin to devise a plan to free the water, but Dovepaw warns them that the brown animals are still around. Lionblaze suggests that they wait until after dark to attack, and the cats agree. :Whitetail leads the patrol around the fallen logs. She points out the size of the animals' teeth proven by the marks in the wood. Dovepaw then scents Twolegs and warns the rest of the cats to be wary. The nearby Twoleg nests exude the possible scent of food, and Sedgewhisker offers to go check them out. Petalfur goes after her, and shortly afterwards, a Twoleg begins to move towards them. The Twoleg quickly scoops up Petalfur. The RiverClan cat struggles at first, but then starts to purr and bat the Twoleg gently with her paw. The Twoleg then puts down the cat and moves away, later returning with something for the warrior. Petalfur grabs it and returns to the patrol. :The patrol comments on Petalfur's friendliness towards the Twoleg. Dovepaw sniffs what the warrior had been given, interested at all the scents that it contained. The cats all take a bite of the treat, disappointed in the fact that there was no more. :Suddenly, a tom appears behind the squabbling cats, stating that the Twolegs here were more interested in beavers than cats. Toadfoot interrogates him, and the cat introduces himself as Woody. He tells them that the brown animals are called beavers. The cats explain to him that the beavers and their logs were causing a drought in the lake by their home. Woody thinks that their efforts to chase the beavers away are ridiculous, but agrees to take them down to the river and see for themselves. :Woody leads the cats towards the stream, warning them that they won't be welcome. He shows them where the beavers live, but is cut off by Petalfur and Rippletail excitedly running down to the water's edge. Dovepaw watches the RiverClan cats play, but suddenly scents movement on top of the dam. She sees two beavers and calls out to the rest of the patrol. The RiverClan warriors then spot the beavers themselves making their way towards them and scramble to exit the water. Lionblaze orders for all of the cats to run, but the beavers do not trail them once out of the water. Toadfoot comments that the task wasn't going to be as easy as planned, and Dovepaw could sense Lionblaze's concern from his glance. Characters Major }} Minor *Lionblaze *Tigerheart *Rippletail *Toadfoot *Sedgewhisker *Whitetail *Woody }} Mentioned }} Notes and references Category:The Fourth Apprentice Category:Chapter subpages Category:Omen of the Stars arc